This is a journey of discovering coffee. From instant coffee to roasting beans and preparing espressos on a semi-professional espresso machine

Dark and caramelly roast? Not for me

Today my wife and I experienced some unexpected coffee
tasting that showed us how immensely different two different types of coffee
beans can be.

Everything started last Friday when we had a gathering with
some friends at our apartment. Since we ran out of coffee and it was already
late, I did a last minute run to Target to get a bag of Dark Espresso Roast
from Starbucks. That night, we all had a great time but we ended having no
coffee.

The next morning, to help me lessen the slight hangover I
had, I prepared my usual latte with a double shot using the beans I just bought.
When I took the first sip, I noticed a very strong burnt, bitter flavor that I
did not like. I thought that maybe I did something wrong while preparing it.
Did I put too much coffee? Did I press down too much while tampering it? However,
I didn’t pay too much attention to this. On Sunday morning, once again, I
prepared my latte but with only one shot each this time. To my surprise, I noticed
again a strong burnt flavor and by now I was sure it was because of the beans.

Double shot latte with Starbucks Espresso Dark Roast

Later that day, I bought a bag of San Francisco’s Sight
Glass coffee and as soon as I got home I gave it a try. As soon as I opened the bag, I knew that
something great was about to happen. When I ground the beans, the whole
apartment was filled with its delicious aroma. With the exact same preparation as before, I
got cup of coffee that I loved and that I would describe as sweet and with
hints of chocolate.

Single shot latte with Sight Glass' Espresso Owl's Howl

This unexpected tasting where I got to try the two coffee
beans on the same day, using the exact same setting, with the same machine, the
same milk and the same barista (me) made me perceive differences that I was not
able to perceived before. This is a very recommendable experiment. By comparing
the two of them side by side you can clearly identify which side is more appealing
for you.

Overall, there are three things that I would like to
highlight:

The importance of freshness. When I ground the
Sight Glass beans the aroma spread through the house in seconds. On the other
hand, when I ground the Starbucks beans the aroma was not as intense; I could only
smell it around the kitchen. I believe this
is related to the freshness of the roasting and one of the reasons that people
recommends that coffee beans should be consumed within the first one or two
weeks after roasted. I know that the Sight Glass beans were roasted 5 days ago
(it says it in the bottom of the bag). The Starbucks beans I have no idea since
there’s no date on the bag.

I learn that the smell and flavor of a darker
roast is not something that I appreciate. Although I can perceive some
sweetness, the closer thing I could use to relate the smell is burnt tobacco. There
are obviously a lot of people that enjoy a dark roast. I just learnt that
French Roast, Italian Roast and Spanish Roast are three variations of dark. For
me, it seems that I am inclined to lighter roasts such as City Roast or Full
City Roast. You can click the following link to see pictures on various types
of roasts

I think that both companies gave me exactly what
I paid for: Starbucks gave me a more affordable (~$7) bag of very dark coffee beans
that were not recently roasted, but that was convenient to get at my
neighborhood supermarket at 8PM on a Friday night. Sight Glass, on the other
hand, gave me a more expensive (~$16) bag of recently roasted coffee beans that
were not as dark. The difference is that Sight Glass gave me also a great cup that was aligned to my preferences.

Here’s a picture of both bags and a sample of their beans. By zooming in we can easily appreciate the difference in roasting: The ones in the left are darker and caramelized as it says in the bag
“DARK ESPRESSO ROAST, Rich and Caramelly”.

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About Me

I live and work in Silicon Valley but I am originally from Mexico City. I enjoy all those little pleasures of life: a tasty meal, sharing a bottle of good red wine with friends, or just sipping to my Latte on a lazy Saturday morning while reading a good book sitting at my coach. However, I was not always like this. During my youth I used to believe that instant coffee with a quesadilla made the perfect breakfast. Over the years I have discovered new exciting things and flavors thanks to friends, trips, work, the internet and books and I want to share with you my journey.